Most notoriously, the Denver Post discovered in  its profiling of shooter Karl Halverson Pierson that fellow students described the 18-year-old gunman as “a very opinionated socialist.” Yet by the next day, the Post’s editors had scrubbed the word “socialist” from the article, replacing it with merely “very opinionated.”

In fact, the first words the article uses to describe Pierson are “outspoken about politics, was a gifted debater and might have been bullied for his beliefs … a dedicated, bright student from a religious family that attends Bible study meetings.”

Gone from the Post article was the “socialist” reference, and only much later in the article do readers learn of Pierson’s politics, when the Post reports Pierson mocked Republicans on Facebook, writing, “You Republicans are so cute,” and posting an image that reads: “The Republican Party: Health Care: Let ‘em Die, Climate Change: Let ‘em Die, Gun Violence: Let ‘em Die, Women’s Rights: Let ‘em Die, More War: Let ‘em Die. Is this really the side you want to be on?”

Furthermore, a quick search for online news articles published the Monday following the Friday shooting revealed more than 2,600 articles profiling one of Pierson’s shooting victims, but only two that still sought to dig up information about the shooter’s motivations.  Neither article , however,  mentions Pierson’s socialist politics, nor other details  revealed by a Wall Street Journal interview with a fellow student who said Pierson “once wore a shirt emblazoned with the letters U.S.S.R. and described himself as a communist.”

The Post’s Senior Editor for News Lee Ann Colacioppo later offered a defense for scrubbing the nature of Pierson’s politics,  responding to criticism via Twitter , “We decided not to have another student apply a label to the shooter – a label the student likely didn’t even understand.”